Traffic Measures Will Get Closer Scrutiny

City Agrees To Make Changes, Review High St. Project After Hearing Concerns From Fire Officials, Motorists

August 29, 2006|By JOSH KOVNER; Courant Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — The city will finish installing traffic-calming measures on High Street, but will postpone similar work on Highland Avenue until police can study whether the changes are safely slowing traffic in the Wesleyan area.

The neighborhood supports the project but concerns expressed by fire officials and some drivers about the project's design led to a meeting among city officials Monday. Council members, Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, and police, fire and public works officials decided to:

Reduce the size of proposed traffic islands at High and Warwick streets so as not to restrict the operation of the fire department's 54-foot tower truck;

Tweak the city's 5-year-old traffic-calming ordinance to get fire and public works officials involved earlier in the planning;

Conduct a detailed traffic study after the High Street work is done and use the results to decide if similar projects will be done in other areas of the city.

The city will finish the traffic-calming work, which includes narrower lanes, an S-curve, traffic islands and wider curbs, on High Street from Church to Warwick streets, ``and then evaluate where we are'' before deciding whether to proceed with street narrowing and other measures on Highland Avenue, said Geen Thazhampallath, aide to Giuliano.

High Street turns into Highland Avenue at Pameacha Avenue.

``The neighborhood is thrilled with the work on High Street,'' Public Works Director William Russo said Monday. ``You've got people walking day-care kids; you've got Wesleyan students and faculty crossing; you have the speed of the traffic out there. All of that is being addressed. But at the same time, I have to look at the fire department's concerns.''

A 2003 traffic survey found that cars routinely traveled at 15 miles an hour faster than the 25-mph limit on High Street. That same year, a neighborhood survey showed that more than eight out of 10 residents favored reconfiguring High Street and Highland Avenue to slow traffic.

Deputy Fire Chief Robert Kronenberger said last week that the department supports traffic-calming measures, but that the raised islands, as designed, would prevent the ladder truck's hydraulic supports from extending. That support is needed if the tower ladder is to be fully raised.

Fire officials will take the tower truck to High and Warwick streets today to test whether the reductions to the raised islands solve the problem, Russo said.

Some drivers, encountering the narrower lanes, the S-curve and the wider ``bump-out'' curbs for the first time, have complained to city hall about Middletown's first city-sponsored traffic-calming project.

There was a similar reaction -- support from the neighborhood, complaints from drivers passing through -- when a private developer installed the S-curve and cobblestone strips on Westfield Street near Spencer School several years ago.

``Our phone rang off the hook [with complaints and questions], but the reports we get from police show accidents have disappeared there, and speeds are down,'' Russo said.